Thursday, March 31, 2011

Greenpeace Map of Radiation MeasurementsGreenpeace are calling for the Japanese government to widen the evacuation area around the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Greenpeace radiation experts took readings beyond the evacuation zone and found levels that they say are high enough to require evacuation beyond the official zone.

Greenpeace has created a Google Map of their readings taken on the 26th and 27th March. The map shows "radiation levels of up to ten micro Sieverts per hour in Iitate village, 40km northwest of the crisis-stricken Fukushima/Daiichi nuclear plant, and 20km beyond the official evacuation zone. These levels are high enough to require evacuation."

England Deprivation MappedThe most deprived area in England is Jaywick Sands in Essex, according to this deprivation map of the country.

The Guardian newspaper has taken the Indices of Multiple Deprivation published by the Department for Communities and Local Government to create this Google Map of deprivation in England. The Indices look at poverty across a number of indicators to try and work out which places in England are the poorest.

The Guardian has added the data to Google Fusion tables along with shapefiles for individual wards from the Office for National Statistics. The result is this Google Map that allows you to click on any location on the map and find out its 'Deprivation Score' and 'Deprivation Rank'.

Iowa Flood Information SystemThe Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa has developed a Google Maps based flood information system to provide real-time flood conditions for the state.

The map includes an overlay displaying the Iowa river network. It also displays real-time water level and gauge heights with warning levels and rainfall conditions. You can filter the map to show current rainfall totals or rainfall totals for today or for the week.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

WNYC 2010 Census MapIn my extensive round-up of 2010 census maps yesterday I missed one very good map. WNYC has used Google Fusion Tables to create a great Google Map of the census data for the city of New York.

The map allows you to view heat maps of demographic changes in New York over the last ten years. The map allows you to view population change and changes in race / ethnicity in each of New York's census tracts.

Google have added new Street View imagery in Italy and France. This latest imagery has been captured by the Street View trike that allows Google to go off road and obtain imagery from historical sites, such as inside the Colosseum in Rome.

If you want a quick tour of the Colosseum check out this animated pan of the arena in Street View.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Geo HuntersGEO Hunters is a free role playing game for the iPhone that uses Google Maps satellite views to create a fantasy world based on your location.

In this game monsters have invaded your neighborhood and you are either a warrior, skilled hunter or crafty wizard. Your goal is to protect your turf by amassing your own monster army. As well as fighting the game's monsters you must also compete against other players to become the top ranking player.

There and ThenWhy not let Google Maps take you back to the bygone days of the pre-digital world? This app I've put together superimposes historical YouTube videos on top of Street View to help transport you to a different age.

Using the chromeless video player, available in the YouTube API, I've tried to match a number of vintage films with the same view as seen in Street View today. The videos are mainly of 1920's Britain but there are few turn of the Twentieth Century U.S. videos in there as well.

To navigate to the different videos you just need to click on the thumbnail images at the bottom of the page.

NYT: Mapping the 2010 CensusThe New York Times has created a Google Map to visualise the changes in population in U.S. counties since 2000. Using data from the 2010 census the NYT has created a heat map that shows areas that have increased and decreased in population.

The areas shaded blue have shown an increase in population size and the yellow shaded areas have decreased. If you select the 'more maps' button you can also see visualisations of population density, racial / ethnic distribution and housing.Washington Post: Explore the 2010 CensusIf you live in Washington D.C. you might want to check out this Google Map from the Washington Post instead. The map lets you see how demographics in D.C. neighborhoods have changed over time, using data from the 1990, 2000 and 2010 censuses.

You can search the map by zip code or address and you can also view data by race / ethnicity.

These Google Map based apps allow users to closely examine the census data returns in each state. Using the applications you can set filters, colors and generate heat maps. You can display census block lines, as well as County lines, Congressional, State House and State Senate districts. You can even zoom down to the census block level and download the actual census data for a block.

Moonshadow promise that more state maps will follow in the coming days and weeks as additional block level data becomes available from the US Census Bureau.

The heat map shows areas that have grown and shrunk in population in the last ten years. The map seems to show a general trend of population growing in the centre of Chicago but people moving out of the outer neighborhoods.

If you zoom in you can view the exact population change figures for each census tract.

California 2010 CensusThe LA Times has produced a Google Map to show the 2010 census counts by California’s congressional districts. The map shows how many residents the 53 congressional districts are above or below the target 702,905 population.

Texas - 2010 CensusThe Texas Tribune, on the other hand, has created this Google Map to visualise the Texas population by race and Hispanic origin. The map displays the totals for each district, with darker colours representing higher rates of total population growth by race or Hispanic origin.

'Deficit reduction' certainly seems to be the buzz word of the decade. In the UK the British government is cutting public spending as if there will be no tomorrow. Almost as fast as the cuts are being made a new Google Map appears to try and show the impact of the cuts around the country.

CutsmapChannel 4 News has created a crowd-sourced Google Map of spending cuts in the UK and have asked users to submit their own knowledge of cuts to the map.

The map markers are colour-coded by category and the categories can be filtered on the map via a drop-down menu. Anyone who knows of a spending cut not mapped can report it to Channel 4 and it will be plotted on the map.

Public Sector Cuts MappedThe Guardian newspaper reports that "organisations across the country are closing and losing services as councils and public bodies implement swingeing cuts from April." To document the cuts The Guardian has built this Google Map.

Monday, March 28, 2011

NSW Electorate MapOn Saturday New South Wales, Australia held its state election. The Sydney Morning Herald has produced this Google Map to visualise the results in each electorate.

The map is coloured-coded so that you can tell at a glance which party won in each electorate. If you click on any of the individual electoral regions the results of the election are displayed in the map sidebar.

Verräterisches HandyGerman Green party politician, Malte Spitz recently got a court order forcing Deutsche Telekom to reveal all the location data it had collected from his mobile phone. German newspaper Zeit has used six months of this data to create a Google Map showing how Spitz' movements were tracked over half a year.

The map animates Spitz' movements over the six months and includes a time-line that lets you check his location on any day and at any time of the day, during the six months. The amount of data collected is amazing (some would say frightening). His location was logged 35,000 times just in that six month period.

The amount of location detail collected by the mobile phone companies means that, for example, we can follow in incredible detail a journey Spitz took on the 31st August 2009 from Berlin to Erlanger.

All privacy issues aside, the Google Map created by Zeit is very impressive. The time-line allows you to visualise Zeit's location on the map for any day and at any time. The animation of the six month's of data includes a speed control, which is useful if you want to animate the whole six months. You can set the animation to play at full-speed and watch as six months of Malte Spitz's life flashes by.

Christchurch Post-Earthquake Aerial PhotosNZ Aerial Mapping Ltd, at the request of the NZ Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management (MCDEM), flew a Rockwell Commander 690 at 5,500 feet over Christchurch two days after the 22nd February earthquake, capturing imagery of the damage suffered by the city. As you can see from the shot of Christchurch Cathedral above the imagery provides an incredibly close aerial view of the city.

Koordinates has created this Google Map that lets you view the aerial imagery on Google Maps. Using Google Maps means that you are able to find locations in Christchurch using the underlying map tiles and zoom in on the new aerial imagery.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

GeoCam.tvGeoCam.tv is a Google Map of webcams from around the world. The site has recently added live streams from Qik.com. The videos from Qik.com are real-time video streams from users' mobile phones.

What I like about GeoCam.tv is that all the webcams can be viewed directly on the map. Currently the map shows over 1000 webcams from around the world, as well as the live Qik.com feeds. To view a cam just click on a map marker and the webcam image will open in an information window.

How Manhattan’s Grid GrewHere's one for the history buffs, from the New York Times. In 1811, John Randel created a proposed street grid of Manhattan. The New York Times has created this Google Map so that you can compare Randel's map to modern-day Manhattan.

The map also includes an 1836 map of the farms of Manhattan, a map of street openings since 1642 and historic census data. Each of the maps is supplemented by a transparency slider that allows you to view the modern map underneath.

Routema.krThere is nothing really revolutionary or new about this simple route creating app. However the app wins by concentrating on doing one thing and doing it very well.

Using the app you can quickly create a Google Map of any route and then share it with your friends or embed it in your own website. So, if you want to give directions to your business or home, or share the directions to your favourite restaurant then give Routema.kr a go.

With London BusMapper if click on your starting point and destination the app will show you which London buses you can take. All the different options are immediately displayed on the map and the locations of the bus-stops you need are clearly shown.

GLOBE at Night WebappThe GLOBE at Night organisation would like you to help them gather data as part of their research into light pollution.

To take part in the research you simply need to check the night sky and see if you can identify the constellation Leo or Crux. To help you find the constellations GLOBE at Night have provided a Google Map to determine your location and present you with several magnitude charts of the night sky.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Shared AirThe Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic & Space Sciences at the University of Michigan has created this Google Map that shows the air flow to a number of Japanese cities. The purpose of the map "is to illustrate whether the air arriving in select locations has previously been near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant."

To view the air direction record for a city you just need to click on its map marker and select a date from a calendar. Trajectory lines for the wind on that day are then displayed on the map. The yellow overlay represents the probability of an upwind region's potential to influence air quality at this location on your selected day.

Friday, March 25, 2011

TrenderoTrendero is a new Google Maps based application that allows you to report on and follow trends around the world. Users of the application can report local trends and search the world to find what it is popular in other locations.

You can browse the map to search for trends in a number of categories. For example you can search for trends in music, film, books, fashion etc. Trends are assigned a trendiness score based on several factors, including: who reported the trend; how recently the trend was spotted; how actively users are updating the trend and how many people are looking at the trend.

I think I've found someone with a better knowledge of Google Earth than Frank Taylor and Mickey Mellen from the Google Earth Blog.

I'm not exactly sure what is going on in this video. I think the guy has to guess from a zoomed in image what the satellite image is of. To try and put him off a small boy called Justin Bieber has been brought in to grin inanely in his direction.

Whatever is going on, from the reactions, the guy seems to be able to name every part of the world from a very zoomed in shot of Google Earth.

Mapping LondonUsing the before and after visualisation technique, used by ABC Australia and the New York Times to show photographs of the impact of the Japan Tsunami, Mapping London has put together an app to compare the recently updated imagery on Google Maps in London with imagery from 2002-6.

The new imagery clearly shows the the development in east London for the 2012 London Olympics.

Grrrr!Google Sightseeing have discovered a baby black bear on Street View. The bear is spotted crossing the Stewart-Cassiar Highway in British Columbia, Canada.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

GLOBE at Night WebappThe GLOBE at Night organisation are endorsing the Earth Hour event on March 26 and would also like you to help them gather data as part of their research into light pollution.

To take part in the research you simply need to check the night sky and see if you can identify the constellation Leo or Crux. To help you find the constellations GLOBE at Night have provided a Google Map to determine your location and present you with several magnitude charts of the night sky.

All you need to do is determine which of the magnitude charts of the sky most resembles what you see and complete a short form.

MapstagramMapstagram is a super-fast real-time Google Map of photos taken with the Instagram iPhone app.

When the Mapstagram map first loads it displays the most recent photos from a number of U.S. cities. After the initial photos have loaded Mapstagram goes into real-time mode. As photos are uploaded by users in these cities, they are immediately displayed on the map in real time.

GramfeedGramfeed uses the Instagram API to present the best photos from Instagram on Google Maps. It also allows users to view their own photos, a time-line of those they follow, read comments on photos and Tweet about photos and much, much more.

Jog.fmJog.fm helps you find the best music for your run, walk or bike ride.

To find the best tunes for your run all you need to do is enter the average time it normally takes you to run (or walk or cycle) one kilometre. Jog.fm will then suggest tracks for you to listen to based on your pace.

Jog.fm also provide a Google Maps application that lets you plan your run. To plan a route just enter a start and finishing point and Jog.fm will suggest a route and even tell you the distance.

Community Broadband Network MapIn the U.S. over 54 publicly owned networks have been established in cities across the country. These networks have an objective to maximize value for the user rather than for the benefit of stockholders and corporate executives. Community Broadband Networks has produced this Google Map to show the location of these publicly owned citywide wired networks.

The CBN claim that "this is the first map to comprehensively show the broadband networks that are structurally designed to meet community needs first. Most of the networks are owned by local governments, but nonprofit networks will also be incorporated over time."

The map uses colored map markers to differentiate between cable networks and FTTH (fiber to the home). If you click on any of markers you can view the population served by the network and a link to the network's website.

The Guardian Travel Advice MapIn the UK the Foreign and Commonwealth Office issues travel warnings and advice about countries it is safe to travel to. The Guardian newspaper has used Fusion Tables and Google Maps to create a world map of the 53 countries that the FCO currently has travel warnings for.

Even if you are not interested in travelling the world the map provides an interesting view of countries currently affected by conflict or disaster. Do bear in mind however that where the FCO has issued more localised warnings, for example not to visit Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, The Guardian's map displays the whole country as unsafe.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Using the data you can compare the download & upload speeds in different countries. You can view the data in a number of formats including graphs and pie charts. Thankfully you can also view the data geographically via Google Maps.

Using the Google Maps tool you can compare any combination of countries. For example you can see how download speeds in the U.S. compare with the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway (very poorly BTW).

The map also comes with an animated time-line tool so that you can see how speeds have risen or fallen worldwide over the two years that the data is available for.

Routema.krRoutema.kr is a simple to use tool for creating a route on Google Maps. If you want to show friends how to get to your house, or if you want to share the route of your favourite walk, or even show people how to get to a bar or restaurant then you might want to use Routema.kr.

Creating a route with Routma.kr is as easy as clicking on a Google Map and adding a description. When you have created a route you get a dedicated web page with a map and a description of the route. You can then share your link with the world and nobody need get lost ever again.

Each route created comes with a 'Share This' button. This allows you to send a link to the route by e-mail directly from Routema.kr and to also grab the embed code to add the map to your own website or blog.

Taxi Fare FinderIf you need to take a taxi but are unsure of the likely cost then you can use the Taxi Fare Finder calculator to find out the likely price before your journey.

To start a calculation you just need to select a city from a drop-down menu. If your location is not listed you can still calculate the likely fare based on a typical U.S. cab fare.

Next, you just need to enter your starting location and destination. The estimated fare is then displayed next to a Google Map of your route. The driving directions for your journey are also displayed beneath the map.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

London BusMapperLondon BusMapper can tell you which London bus you should take for your journey. London's huge public bus network is a great way of getting around the city. However, with so many routes, it can be difficult to work out which bus you should catch.

With London BusMapper all you need to do is click on your starting point and destination on a Google Map and the app will show you which buses you can take. All the different options are immediately displayed on the map and the locations of the bus-stops you need are clearly shown.

On a BusOn a Bus is a Google Maps mashup of London bus routes. To use the site just enter a London bus number and On a Bus will show the bus's route using Google Maps (try '1' if you are not familiar with London Bus numbers).

The bus route is shown on the map with a polyline and all the bus-stops on the route are indicated with map markers. If you click on any of the map markers on the route nearby points of interest are displayed in the side-panel.

What Bus?What Bus? is a Google Maps mashup of all the London bus lines. It is possible to search the map by postcode or by just panning the map. The bus routes are shown on the map by coloured polylines. Clicking on any of the bus routes will take you to an individual route just for that line.

What Bus? is also available as an iPhone app.

Bus-TopsBus-Tops is a fascinating public art project in London. Bus-Tops will be installing screens on the roofs of bus shelters across London, creating a medium for artists to show their work. Currently the Bus-Tops team is asking Londoners to choose which bus shelters they would like Bus-Tops' screens to be installed on.

If you want to suggest a bus stop shelter in London for a Bus-Tops screen you can do so by simply entering an address or postcode on the Bus-Tops Google Map. Once you enter a address you can view bus shelters near that location. Clicking on a bus top marker will bring up more information on the shelter.

GRNET Network Topology ToolGRNET (Greek Research and Technology Network) is the national research and education network of Greece. GRNET provides internet access to the Research, Academic and Education communities of Greece.

The GRNET Network Topology Tool uses Google Maps to show the location of the nodes on the network and to provide information about the interconnections between network devices, the interfaces' descriptions and tags along with RRD traffic graphs per interface.

The tool is also available in a lightweight version, which can be easily embedded into other websites.

The map includes some custom made zoom buttons that nicely complement the Google Maps navigation controls. The buttons allow the user to quickly zoom back to a level that displays the whole network.

To use the converter select the reference system of your data and the reference system you want the data converted to. You can then enter the coordinates manually, click on a Google Map, or enter an address. Finally, when you press convert, your coordinates will be returned in your chosen geodetic system.

Monday, March 21, 2011

XulandXuland is a Google Maps based social network that lets you share comments, pictures and links with those around you and search for venues, events and deals around your location.

Using Xuland you can comment on any location. If you like the comments of other Xuland users you can choose to 'follow' them. Xuland also has plans to offer comment badges soon to reward you for adding your thoughts.

You can also view nearby venues from Yelp, view deals for local venues from third party sites such as Groupon, and search for local events from Eventful.

Japan Radiation Maximum by PrefectureThe UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, warned today that the situation remains 'very serious' at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Many Japanese citizens are therefore obviously worried about radiation levels.

This TargetMap creation uses Google Maps to show the real-time radiation levels by prefecture. The data comes from the the System for Prediction of Environment Emergency Dose Information(SPEEDI). The results shown are the maximum values recorded in the latest update.

Each marker on the map displays the radiation level and the time of the reading. RTDN are also looking for people to submit their own accurate readings to the map, which you can do via a short form.

To provide context for these map you should also check out O'Reilly Radar's Open Street Map visualisations of radiation levels in Japan. The O'Reilly maps compare two days of recent radiation data with the normal radiation levels in Japan.

How Manhattan’s Grid GrewIn 1811, John Randel created a proposed street grid of Manhattan. The New York Times has created a Google Map that allows you to compare Randel's map to modern-day Manhattan.

The map also includes an 1836 map of the farms of Manhattan, a map of street openings since 1642 and historic census data. Each of the maps is supplemented by a transparency slider that allows you to view the modern map underneath.

The map of street openings since 1642 allows you to visualise the growth of Manhattan. If you use the time-line control you can watch the spread of Mahattan from just a few streets to the present urban sprawl.